Travel Betty

If you’re new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!With all the many exciting places to visit in the world, can a hotel really encourage you to visit twice? If it’s Tita Tulum Hotel Ecologico in the Yucatan region of Mexico it can. Back when I was less experienced [...]

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Barreling down the freeway in the opposite lane from what I’m used to, I turn to Travel Boyfriend. “I feel like we’re home again.” “Me too,” he agrees. The feeling that I am coming home to South Africa was not something I ever expected. Me being American and all. But here I was in Cape [...]

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Pro: Free (for me) Con: Forced to purchase Carlos Mencia tickets in order for room to be free Pro: Hot tubs on deck!!! (I can’t stress enough how very pro this is) Con: $300/night for hot tubs on deck room for people who haven’t won raffle prize Pro: Beautiful drive up through wine country Con: [...]

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Let me set the stage: A month ago I attended a fundraising luncheon for a wonderful organization called the Bay Area Advertising Relief Committee (BAARC). They were holding a raffle and since I sit on their board of directors, I thought it would behoove me to buy a ticket or eight. And so I did. [...]

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1. Find things to do in Beaufort, NC 2. Take a narrated Mystery Boat Tour of the Crystal Coast in order to see the Outer Banks Islands, wild ponies, salt marshes, Fort Macon, and various and assorted historic homes. 3. Visit Mario’s Pizzeria to celebrate your nephew’s graduation* from East Carteret High School (Go Mariners!) [...]

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Travel Betty: We’ve GOT to go to Bali. Travel Boyfriend: You just want that pig. Betty (drooling): So? Did you see it? It was succulent. It’s swabbed in coconut milk for an entire six hours as it rotates over an open fire. Did you see the crispy skin? Imagine what that tastes like! Boyfriend: Yeah, [...]

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Everyone in Egypt is extremely generous, most notably, the Minister of Tourism and his 5-star hotel rating system. From my experience in some of the highest rated hotels throughout Egypt, I’m going to hazard a guess that most were built and furnished during the 1970s. How sumptuous that wafer-thin bright green and yellow-flowered bedspread must [...]

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I never set out to dislike a place. I mean, it’s my vacation and I want to enjoy it so I’m always optimistically hopeful whenever I arrive at a new place. And the Siwa Shali Resort was no exception. It looked beautiful online and I had read two good reviews on Trip Advisor, but sometimes [...]

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The true craftsmen of bed, bath and beyond reside in Egypt. It isn’t that their towels are extra super fluffy (they’re not). Or that their sheets have high thread counts (I never bothered to check). What I mean is that the country is full of people who can shape linens into an unimaginable array of [...]

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Sometimes the idea of an activity is much better than the reality. Sex on a beach or anywhere near loose and abundant sand falls into this category. And now for me, so does cruising the Nile. Let me set the stage. There are 280 boats that are licensed to ply the waters between Aswan and [...]

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